Bharat Rakshak

Suraj wrote:RahulM: South Africa don't have a lot of breadth, but they have depth, especially in swimming and distance running. They won the marquee 4x100 freestyle relay men's swim that the US just won, in the last edition. They've multiple world champs in the pool, e.g. Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling.

Our performance just shows that we have a strong C'wealth Games performance level, and are also inching up the Asiad list. Ideally we should start by being strongly 4th in Asian level, behind only Chn and Kor/Jpn for a start.

Suraj wrote:SwamyG: You don't have to explicitly install the plugin for it to work. I've run it without, and still works ok.

India coach Bob Houghton believes the short break and a change in venue will work in his team's favour when they take on Tajikistan in the final of the AFC Challenge Cup on Wednesday. The showpiece clash was originally scheduled to be played on August 10 at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad but torrential rain had rendered the pitch unplayable.

The Asian Football Confederation, after a quick inspection of the facilities, decided to move the final to the Ambedkar Stadium in the capital and Houghton underlined the unexpected switch means his squad have been able to recuperate from what has been a gruelling tournament. "The delay has allowed us to get some of the boys who had small injuries to get back on their feet – Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence and NP Pradeep,” he said.

"To some extent the others, especially Baichung (Bhutia), have benefited from this rest. Meanwhile, Tajikistan too have had a player suspended, so its all been going well for us. "But this is all secondary. The whole thing rests on how well we play on Wednesday." Ambedkar Stadium is a venue that evokes pleasant memories for the Indians as last August, Houghton guided his side to Nehru Cup glory thanks to a 1-0 triumph over favourites Syria in the final in front of a packed house.

Victory in Wednesday’s game would be of even greater significance as it would come with a place in the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. "This is an extremely important game for us as we would not have a better chance to qualify for the Asian Cup finals," Houghton added. "If we win, it would be the culmination of a very good summer. It's a nice place for us because of the memories of last summer. If we do have as much support as we did in the Nehru Cup, it would be excellent for us."

Tajikistan boss Pulod Kodirov will be without livewire Tukhtasunov Davrondzhon, who was suspended for two matches on account of his involvement in the on-pitch fracas following their semi-final win over DPR Korea. The Central Asian nation won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2006 but Kodirov knows they face a difficult task to retain their title this time around. "Last time, we played Sri Lanka in the final. They were not the host country but India are so it will be a great advantage for them," he said. Kodirov also insisted the change of venue makes little difference to his side. "It doesn’t matter if we play in Hyderabad or in Delhi. It's raining all over the country, so the conditions are going be the same everywhere," he added.

Not in Games, but set for ringside view


Nizamabad, Aug. 12: The Sangroli Sunrise Sports Project has a big dream. It has picked up children from orphanages and juvenile homes and is trying to make top athletes out of them. Realising that the mind rules the body, the project is motivating the boys and girls it is training to aim to become India’s sprinters in the London Olympics of 2012.

And to give them a taste of the bigger arena, the managers of the project have decided to take their best nine runners to the Beijing Olympics next week so that they can watch top athletes compete. The Maharashtra government and the Centre have relaxed rules to issue passports to these boys and girls.

Sangroli is a tiny village of Biloli taluk in Nanded district in Maharashtra, which is 45 km away from Nizamabad and the project is being run by the Sanskrit Samavardhan Mandal, an umbrella organisation of schools. Experts recruited by the project have handpicked future athletes from boys and girls aged between nine and 18 and are training them rigorously.

Since its inception in September 2004, the project has trained 30 boys and 20 girls from high schools and junior colleges. The project was born when the vision of Babasaheb Deshmukh, the founder of SSM, was combined with the dreams of an active athlete and industrialist,

Mr Deepak Kangaonkar. There was also the support of Mr Sudheer Rao, an expert from Chennai. The coach, Mr Bhagwan Nagargoje, adopts a psychological approach while training the youngsters. He tells them that sports is not just about physical strength but also about mental tenacity. Although training methods for long-distance runners have changed with the advent of sports medicine, Mr.Nagargoje still believes in good food and practice. He can vouch for this, having won the 400-metre hurdles in the 1983 National Championships.

The project focuses mainly on short distance and long distance running, cross country marathon, walking, hurdles, relay, jumps, and throws. The bed of River Manjeera, which borders Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the hillocks and the roads are the arenas where the athletes test their strength and skills.

"I am proud of my coaches and teachers," says Kamble Savita, a Class XII student. "They have picked up poor children and orphans and given them an identity. I want to be an achiever like sprint queen P.T.Usha." The budding stars have won races at the district, state and national levels in Visakhapatnam, Tirunelveli, Pune, Aurangabad and Nanded and have also bagged medals in the Delhi and Mumbai marathons.

At present, Chitgire Rameshwer Govindrao, Kanna Sunita Ram, Kamble Savita Mohan, Naik Shivaji, Salunke Ramkishan, Dongardive Shivaling, Gaikwad Meenakshi, Kamble Varsha and Kondawar Vaishali have got permission to visit Beijing. They are thrilled at the prospect. "We are sure that our boys and girls will get inspired by seeing the performance of the athletes at Olympics," says Mr Aravind Deshmukh, director of the project and principal of RSCS Sainiki Vidyalaya. "We especially want to see the marathon."

"I am very happy to get a chance to see the Beijing Olympics," says Kanna Sunita Ram, 13, a Class VIII student. "I have done well in the marathons of Delhi, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam." Her sentiment was echoed by Dongardive Shivaling, a Class XII student. "It will add to our determination," he says. "Many children from the poorest of poor families have been able to discover their talents through the sports project."

For a country that pretends not to care about the Olympics, India certainly threw itself a heck of a party the night of Aug. 11, when a 25-year-old with a bad back and steady aim won India's first individual gold medal. TV channels provided wall-to-wall coverage, families danced in the streets, and political leaders tried to outdo each other in handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money.

If only all that support had come before the event. Every four years when the Olympics come around, India hangs its head in shame, with public finger-pointing and consternation that a nation of a billion people cannot find one athlete to bring home a little piece of gold. The country's sports stadiums are crumbling relics from the 1950s and '60s, with training facilities so ancient that athletes beg for opportunities to train overseas. Because of political problems among the country's sports federations, athletes have to cobble together money for training regimens from as many as nine different organizations.

"I think the whole question is how does everything function," says Bindra, speaking with BusinessWeek from Beijing. "In today's day and age, things have to be run professionally, and unfortunately, that's not how things are done."
Finally, Someone to Cheer for

So it's no surprise that when Bindra, who is now the toast of the nation, ran out of bullets for practice he had to turn to an unlikely source for help: Lakshmi Mittal, one of the richest men in the world and another of India's celebrated sons. Mittal, who is chairman of ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steelmaker, left India many decades ago, but maintains a keen interest in the country. At sporting events—like the 2004 Olympics in Athens—he and his family found themselves cheering for teams picked at random because no Indians had even managed to make it past the qualifiers.

But at the 2005 Wimbledon tennis tournament, he met India's Mahesh Bhupathi, a player who has had considerable success in mixed doubles. Bhupathi and a friend convinced Mittal to put up $10 million to help support a few athletes with an eye toward the London Olympics in 2012, when the Games will be held in Mittal's backyard—he lives in Kensington and can sometimes be seen riding a bicycle in Hyde Park. Regarding Bindra's Beijing triumph, "I am absolutely delighted," says Mittal, whose Mittal Champions Trust got Bindra a physical therapist, a mental trainer, and on that day when the bullets ran out, cartridges to practice with. "This is a great day for Indian sports."

Mittal's trust is administered by his son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, and this year it supported 14 Indian athletes at the Olympics. Many, unlike Bindra, are from less affluent backgrounds, reflecting the kind of conditions under which most of India lives. Archer Laishram Bombayla Devi, who picked up a bow and arrow after seeing people hunt in the fields near her home in rural India, said she spent two years without a coach until the trust stepped in. Now she trains with a foreign coach, for which the trust pays, and has a structured and disciplined training process. "The trust is a lifesaver for a lot of athletes who are not getting any help," she says.
Eye on the Commonwealth Games

But the fact that India's corporate houses have to step in where the government has failed rankles some Indians. Bindra, whose family is well-off, has an MBA, runs his own company, and has extensive training facilities in his house at Chandigarh. Yet, according to Manisha Malhotra, an administrator at the Mittal Champions Trust, there was a behind-the-scenes tug-of-war between the trust and the government.

While Mittal is looking forward to 2012, M.S. Gill, India's Youth Affairs & Sports Minister, and the rest of India officialdom have their sights set on 2010, when Delhi will host the Commonwealth Games. "The credit goes entirely to the player," says Gill. "We are only here to provide support." Indian officials hope the Commonwealth Games will lead to even bigger things. They have watched with some envy as Beijing hosts China's multibillion-dollar coming-out party, and with even greater envy as Chinese athletes compete neck and neck with perennial favorites like the U.S. and Russia.

The goal in Delhi is simple: Just as Beijing is having its moment now, in 2010 the world's eyes will turn to India. India will be only the third developing nation to host the Commonwealth Games, after Jamaica in 1966 and Malaysia in 1998. The government has managed to earmark nearly $12 billion in infrastructure improvements for New Delhi, including sports stadiums, new highways, a brand-new metro rail system, and a new airport. If things go well, the Indian Olympic Assn. wants to bid for the 2020 Olympics to be held in Delhi.

Rahul M wrote:swamy updates please !!

singha, you are late, that bit of info has been dissected to death in the understanding chinese thread !

Supratik wrote:swamyG link please

Suraj wrote:Why a point by point commentary when there's already a link to the live scoreboard ?

A British boxer accused Olympic judges of favoring his Chinese opponent on Tuesday, a few hours after the Ukrainian team lost its protest of a decision in its fighter’s loss to another Chinese boxer. British bantamweight Joe Murray left the ring incensed after his 17-7 opening-round loss to China’s Gu Yu. Murray beat Gu at the world championships in Chicago last fall, but fell behind early and never caught up at Workers’ Gymnasium.

“I thought it should have been a lot closer after the first round,” said Murray, who trailed 4-0 after the first two minutes. “I think the score was bad. I think they were giving him a score for anything, and I had to work to get all of my points. I knew going in that the only way I could win this fight is don’t let him hit me.”

British coach Terry Edwards echoed his fighter’s complaints, calling the scores “absolutely stupid.” “The judges took it away from him,” Edwards said of the early rounds, when the score deficit forced Murray to change his style. “I’m not saying he won, but when you’re chasing the bout, you do things you’re not comfortable with.”

AIBA spokesman Richard Baker confirmed the Ukrainian team filed a protest over lightweight Oleksandr Klyuchko’s 10-8 loss to Hu Qing on Monday night. The protest was reviewed and denied, Baker said. “I thought the Chinese opponent was not very good,” said Klyuchko, who beat Hu 26-13 at last year’s world championships. “I’m very sad. I thought I would be the winner. I already beat him once before.”

Judging row is as synonymous with amateur boxing as headgear. The sport’s points-based punch scoring lends itself to wide interpretation, and Olympic history is full of loud protests over boxing results both before and after the sport switched to a computer scoring system in 1992 to make the results more transparent.

But the new complaints at the sport’s biggest event could cast doubt on its progress over the last 18 months, when a slate of remarkable reforms in the international boxing association seemed to begin a cleanup of the sport. Computer scoring was introduced at the Olympics four years after American Roy Jones Jr. lost the championship bout in Seoul to South Korea’s Park Si-hun, a decision still considered one of the great travesties in Olympic history.—AP

Suraj wrote:I got a positive response from Mittal Champions Trust regarding the online contribution mechanism. They say they are going to work on creating this option. I also invited Sharda Ugra to join BRF, but it is upto her...